| Helping hand: Ministry doesn't stop at city limits 03/24/2001 
Summar Smith-Zak / DMN
Volunteers sort through thousands of items to prepare them for distribution at the Irving Christian Assistance Network.
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Norma Jacquess believes so strongly in the words of Philippians 4:13 – "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" – that she named a ministry after it.
For the past seven years, Ms. Jacquess (pronounced Jay-quess) and her ICAN ministry at Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving have been providing clothes and furniture to the needy, both locally and around the world in countries such as Liberia, Latvia, Bulgaria and Honduras.
ICAN, which stands for Irving Christian Assistance Network, helps 60 to 70 families per month and has nearly 800 families in its files.
"We want to change lives where they will be Christ-centered," said Ms. Jacquess, the ministry's coordinator. "I think we can do all things through Christ. If we go to him for help, he will help us."
Ms. Jacquess said she began the ministry after she and her husband, Bill, returned from a two-year job assignment in China.
"When we came back we wanted to do some work in missions," she said. "I checked in Irving to see which of the ministries was not being done and the furniture was it, so we did that."
ICAN subsists completely with donations from individuals and a few businesses. A regular staff of 14 volunteers, plus several other "part-timers" – including some college students on spring and summer breaks – collect the items and prepare them for distribution. Anyone who wants clothes can get them at ICAN's offices in the Plymouth Park Shopping Center East, but they are limited to three or four gifts per year. Call 972-986-8959 to volunteer or for more information.
To receive furniture, however, the recipient must complete a form that is then given to a church. Ms. Jacquess said that they go through the church on the furniture so that the church can do follow-up ministry.
Unlike some church missions, ICAN isn't necessarily designed to draw members to Plymouth Park Baptist. Both Ms. Jacquess and Bob Harper, Plymouth Park's minister of missions, said they work with all area churches when people come to ICAN for help.
"We're not proselytizing or stealing from other churches," Mr. Harper said. "We try to minister to their physical needs and refer them, if necessary, to the church of their choice for their spiritual needs."
And just how long will Ms. Jacquess, who is 67, keep ICAN going?
"As long as the doors are open and the Lord's willing," she said.
Selwyn Crawford
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